The Rover from Mindoir
by Skylar59
Summary: I'm trying out writing stuff for the first time... Cuz it's fun! I'm starting this from the events that happen on Mindoir and going onward (using a mainly Paragon Shepard that is colonist/sole survivor). Will update description as I go. I'm still getting used to this. Feedback is welcomed. :) Rated M for later chapters/just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**\- CHAPTER 1** -

* * *

"No."

Without even glancing up from her dinner plate, and in the most neutral yet conclusive way she can muster, she remains unchanged with her answer. She refuses to spend any more time on her daughter's outrageous request.

"Oh c'mon mom. You're being ridiculous!" her daughter protests.

Hannah peers up from her food and repeats herself, once more, a bit more firm than before.

"I said no, kiddo. I won't have you going off gallivanting off world like that. It's not safe."

Irritated and not satisfied with that dismissive answer, her daughter stands up abruptly from her chair and slams her fists on the table – albeit with a little more force than she intended.

"What's so bad about wanting to join the Alliance military? For fuck's sake, most people my age have probably gone off to figure out their lives by now. I haven't even gone as far as to see my own home planet!"

Hannah remains sitting at her seat and continues to eat, all while saying nothing. She will listen to her daughter, but her mind is already made up. They both know it. Mindoir is safe, and much less cluttered than Earth mega metropolises. Hannah knew that military life would be extremely dangerous, and would result in possibly never seeing her daughter again. It was selfish, but she couldn't help it. She already lost contact with her partner. She wasn't about to lose her own child too.

"I'm sixteen!" she points out as the frustration in her voice grows increasingly difficult to suppress, "I am almost old enough to -"

"You may nearly be old enough to enlist but that doesn't mean that you're old enough to not get yourself killed!" Hannah snapped, cutting off her daughter mid-sentence.

Startled by the sudden burst of emotion, her daughter takes a step back, wide-eyed.

"The stuff the Alliance had to deal with…" Hannah continued, while trying her best not to let her voice break in front of her child "... With those… turians during the First contact war…"

"Mom... Please…" her daughter responds, as calmly as she could, while reaching over to her in an effort to convince her that things will be ok.

"No," Hannah snaps back emotionally while swatting the hand - the attempt as reassurance – away, "you have a good life here; you're far from ready to leave. With things being as shaky as they are out there, and with who-knows-what else flying around in the galaxy, I can't risk losing you."

"You won't lose me. I'm capable of more than you know."

Hannah looks up at her daughter, frustrated at her daughter for being so hard-headed.

"And you need to give the aliens a chance. Just because they're different doesn't mean they are bad."

Hannah slides her dinner plate forward and stands up from her chair. She sighs and slowly walks over towards her daughter.

"You've always been an optimist, kiddo" Hannah says softly as she pulls her daughter in for a brief hug. She then pulls away and continues "but you need to be realistic. You're not ready for what this galaxy is capable of. I've seen and heard more than enough to know that."

Hannah feigns a smile only for it to disappear all too quickly once she glances up at her daughter's somewhat appalled face.

"Are you serious?" her daughter pushes her away, visibly upset at the lack of faith her own mother has in regards to her potential. "The turians and humans have been cooperating with the rest of the alien council. Peace is more than possible. I want to be a part of it. I want to learn more about what's out there. Why do you insist that I'm not ready?" she cries out in exasperation.

"It's for your own good", Hannah retorts, firm in her stance.

As it was becoming increasingly obvious that the conversation wasn't going to get anywhere productive, and that both their emotions were currently running high, her daughter looks for a means of escape. She can't be around her mother at the moment. Not when she feels like she has so much doubt for what she can do.

She is tired of feeling trapped on the same old farmland living an incredibly tame life all while knowing there was so much more out there to explore. Clearly bringing up the idea of joining the Alliance once she becomes of age was a terrible idea. Terrible idea or not, she would have had to go through with that talk sooner or later. She always tells her mother everything. They may have their differences of opinions, but they are near inseparable nonetheless. Being so close only made the feelings of not being good enough or ready enough to go off world hurt that much more.

"I should go." she states coldly as she storms out the front door, leaving Hannah alone in the house.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well that was... interesting. I'm still getting used to this. Hoping to update soon! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**\- CHAPTER 2 -**

* * *

As the younger Shepard ventures further into the sea of trees that caress the edge of their property, she repeats the argument over and over again in her head, torturing herself with doubt and a touch of anxiety. Over-analyzing and overworking conflicts are not things she normally does, but – for some reason – having her hopes crushed so swiftly by the person that mattered the most in her life really got to her.

 _"_ _I can't believe mom didn't even give the idea a chance,"_ she grumbles to herself, growing increasingly agitated the more she ponders the recent events.

 _"_ _She's keeping me here like some kind of prisoner!"_

After a moment more of emotional exploration and wandering in the familiar Mindoir forest – the very forests she explored throughout her childhood – the young redhead slumps alongside a particularly large tree. Brushing a strand of hair away from her face, she continues to wallow in her emotions a bit more.

"It's for your own good," she mocks aloud, repeating her mother's words; downplaying the sting they had on her psyche.

Muttering in her own discontent, she lets her head fall in her hands. Now what? Normally, she could bring up anything with her mother – any dreams or aspirations that she has – and her mother would listen intently and patiently. Now that she is older, their relationship seems to have grown more strained, more distant. The more her mother's grip tightened, the more she struggled to free herself. It hurt arguing so much.

The idea to join the Alliance military always seemed to have been on the back of the younger Shepard's mind. She figured that, since her own father had once been a part of the Alliance military, then her mom would find it at least a bit interesting that she wanted to join the ranks as well.

Then again, maybe there's a reason she never really talked about him much. She knew of him, but he wasn't around the way her mother was. She knew not to bring him up to her. It was pointless.

Either way, she never saw anything wrong with being curious about what lies out there in the vast unknown that is space. She has always been curious about the endless possibilities that intergalactic travel would provide. She lives in, what may very well be, the best time to be curious about the far reaches of space. With the recent discovery of the Mass Relays, humanity has been able to evolve their spaceflight technology – along with their technology as a whole – at an incredible rate. The possibilities are endless.

In the little over a decade and a half that the young Shepard has been alive, she has been living in the same time that space travel became increasingly easier (heck she's living on another planet besides Earth! As a human, that has only ever been a dream for most of her kind until now). Not to mention that discoveries in other planetary systems have continued to allow humans to evolve as a species, and even the discovery of other intelligent species – the turians (being among the first) – happened all within the same timeframe that she has been alive. It boggled her mind when she thought about it like that.

Yes sure, there was some risk with the use of the Mass Relays – without knowing what they were or what their intended use was at first – and yes, the first contact war didn't exactly let humanity start off on the right foot when it came to aliens. But now things are working a bit better. Other species are cooperating, to say the least. Some people are still weary of other species and venturing off further into space, but nothing good ever came out of remaining in some safe zone.

Shepard wants to take a risk, and she wants to give everyone a chance. She is not the type to coward in fear of the unknown. That was just a waste of time and potential.

"I guess I should head back… I don't want mom to worry," the young redhead decides aloud. It has been long enough, she figures.

Rising up from her spot below the tree, she begins to walk back home. The thick forest would have anyone unfamiliar with the terrain lost for days. It muffles the sounds of the farm, and of the towns nearby. Shepard always found it to be a relaxing safe haven when she wants to be by herself with her thoughts. It is peaceful.

That peace and quiet is suddenly sliced through by an orchestra of blood curdling screams and the sound of gunshots in the distance. Panic sets in as a result. She follows the horrible sounds, picking up the pace as she runs. As the trees thinned out towards the edge of the forest, leading onto her property, the sounds grew louder.

"NO NO NO… What's happening?!" Shepard cries out, unwilling to believe her eyes as she breaks into a full sprint in the direction of the chaos. She sees smoke and fire in the distance, and buildings nearby fall to the ground. She can even see the once recognizable silhouette of her home engulfed in the blaze.

Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. A sinking feeling weighed down her heart as she ran across the vacant field, leading closer to the chaos while remaining at a safe distance.

Where is her mother?

* * *

 **A/N:** I have no idea what I'm doing. I'll keep writing. Maybe this will suck less one day haha  
I'm still getting in the groove of it. *shrug*


End file.
